You and I
by Hobohunter
Summary: It's been a while since Leon and Claire have seen one another. Will they ever meet under 'normal' circumstances? LeonClaire :3 Oneshot.


All that could be heard throughout the apartment was the clacking of keys on a keyboard. The only time the noise stopped was when the redhead started to proof read what she just had written. The noise would change when she brought her finger up to slam down on the delete button furiously.

Claire Redfield was not having a very good day.

Clack, clack, clack, went the keys again. She needed to finish the report about the Hardaville and air dome incidents. Her eyes shifted over to the pictures that were taken by the military. Hordes of flesh eating virus carriers, or 'zombies' were being shot at in groups.

Why should she write a report about the incident? Leon or that woman... Angela? Yes, Angela was fully capable of writing reports. Claire wasn't near G-Curtis when it transformed and attacked. Why should she have to do it?

_Because the President asked you to do it, Claire. Isn't it obvious that Leon is too busy, and Angela doesn't have enough experience with it? You're stuck with it, Red._

"Stupid..." she muttered under her breath. She didn't know who she was calling stupid; was it Angela, the President, herself, or maybe it was even that sly agent?

Leon. What a popular name these days. Leon this, Leon that, Leon help! Claire Redfield felt unease from always relying on that man for everything. She's always depended on Chris, ever since she was a little kid. But now, it's always Leon, and it's always at the worst time. Was it just her, or did the two of them just attract by zombies?

It was more than a coincidence, it had to be. But she will admit that Leon got her out of the jam at Rockfort for sending her brother the coordinates. But didn't he have something in South America too? She wasn't sure, Leon and her lost touch after Umbrella fell under. And they didn't like to talk about other outbreaks to one another.

Claire sighed loudly and noticed that she had stopped typing a while ago. She used the mouse to her computer and clicked on save. That's all she needed, to lose over half her work for not saving her stupid file.

She stood up after and walked to the window, it was around ten p.m. at night, yet the city lights seemed to brighten up the area. Her eyes glanced over to an old dark alley, a black clothes figure moved back into the shadows as Claire's eyes shifted to him.

_Oh shit._

She pretended that she didn't notice the person and walked away from the window. Claire hightailed it to her room and started to put her boots on. She didn't want to stay alone in her apartment, what if that person broke in and kil-

With a slight jump Claire got to her feet and put her shoulder holster on. She placed the Browning HP into the leather holder and threw on a jacket. Her hands pulled the pony tail out of her hair and let it fall past her shoulders. Everyone knew Claire wore her hair up, maybe this idiot wouldn't recognize her. She grabbed her bag and cell phone and exited her apartment.

She cautiously walked to the elevator; everyone knew that where you were trying to run away, you went for the stairs. So she got inside and pressed the button for the first floor. Claire knew she should try to stay clear of the person, but she also wanted some answers.

The young Redfield changed her posture and stood straight, she was ready for anything. She kept her hand clutching the strap of her purse; it was dangerously close to her gun which was right under her jacket. She left the lump of steel with her fingertips as she walked; it was somewhat comforting to her.

Her body turned towards the alley that the man was in, she looked from side to side quickly and then entered. Turned over trashcans and garbage littered the streets, it reminded Claire of Raccoon City. The green dumpsters and fire escapes were unforgettable to her. As she walked, she moved her hand under her jacket and grabbed the grip of her gun. It tightened as she heard a crashing noise behind her. She looked back quickly and saw a family of black cats look up at her. Claire wasn't one for superstitions, but seeing the glowing eyes of the cats staring at her made goosebumps rise on her skin.

The sound of coughing caught her attention, and she turned her head to see a sleeping hobo curled up beside a shopping cart. He clutched his empty bottle of hooch close to his chest as he slept. Claire knew that the homeless man wasn't the one that was looking at her through the window. She headed off further down the alley, looking at every shadow and noise that she heard. The redhead stopped when she ended up at the end in front of a brick wall. A sigh escaped her lips and she stared to turn around slowly. As she was turning, she saw a brief sight of someone hiding behind a dumpster.

Claire took her gun out of her holster and held it with two hands. She was a perfect marksman with her gun, and she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on them if the person tried something. She took a few steps and strained her eyes to catch anything out of the ordinary.

Just like a flash of lighting; someone came out from behind the dumpster and kneed Claire in the stomach. "Oof!" was the only noise she could mutter before she had her gun knocked out of her hands. Her Browning skidded across the ground as she fell down onto one knee while clutching her stomach. The assailant knocked the wind right out of her. Claire's eyes looked up and saw the smirk fill the face of the homeless man. It seemed that this man was no ordinary hobo. The redhead clenched her fist and rose up quickly; punching the man in the face as hard as she could.

"Well it seems I didn't hit you hard enough, Redfield." Stated the man as he wiped the blood from his lips.

"Who the fuck are you," spat Claire. She took a fighters stance and held her fists up to her face; she was ready for another attack from him.

The hobo smirked again, showing off his now bloodied teeth to her, "Just wanting to take you away with me for a little while. My boss would love to have a little chat with you."

"Ugh," said the hobo after he felt something connect with the back of his head. He fell forward on the ground, planting his face into the dirty street.

"Tell your boss, if he's going to invite a lady, he had better invite her partner too." Spoke the gruff voice that came from the shadow behind the hobo. Claire saw a foot come out of the shadows, followed by a leg. A man's silhouette was shown to her bit by bit until she saw a familiar face.

"Leon..?" Claire asked in shock. How did Leon know she was here? And more importantly, how did he know where she lived?

"You sure sound happy to see me," replied the monotonous voice, "I-" Leon was cut short when Claire threw her arms over his shoulders. She started to cling to the man as she held onto him.

"Thank you, Leon. I saw that man in the alley and I followed him and…"

With a grunt and a nod, Leon showed that he understood. He would never have the heart to tell her that he was actually the one she saw. He hid out on the fire escapes while she was investigating. And leave it to Hunnigan to call a few minutes before Claire was attacked. If he knew, Leon would have been there sooner. He

Claire noticed that Leon wasn't letting go of her as she held onto him, curiously, she looked up into his eyes, "What are you doing here, Leon?"

Leon cleared his throat before he spoke, "I found out you were being followed, so I came to see if it was true."

Claire furrowed her brow and then replied, "But how did you know that I was being followed?"

"I have people," he said quickly, "and they told me that you were being followed. It seems they were right." His eyes glanced down to where the hobo was and saw that he was gone.

_Damn. He must have slipped away while Claire was hugging me… _

Leon's eyes shifted down to Redfield's and saw that she was staring at him. Have they ever hugged before? Yes, Leon remembered all too well of hugging Claire. After she came back from Rockfort, she had to force him from hugging her to death. Chris opted for using a crowbar, though they didn't know if he meant to pry Leon off or hit him in the head with it. Most likely he wanted to strike him in the back of the head with it.

"Thanks, Leon. You always seem to be there for me." Claire didn't want to be rude to him, but he sounded pretty suspicious to her. He never seemed to be interested in her, even that time when they went drinking and Claire admitted that...

With a shake of her head, the redhead looked at him and smiled. She didn't want remember what happened between them. Leon had his eyes set on another woman, even though he thought she was dead for he told her that 'Ada' was still alive and met up with him in Spain; well let's just say that Claire didn't have very good images in her head.

Leon took hold of Claire's arm lightly and lead her out of the alleyway carefully. He took her to the apartment building she lived in and into the elevator. The redhead just told herself that he knew where she lived from a contact. He did work for the Government after all. Maybe he was coming to check up on the file she was writing? He probably saw that man in the alley and went to investigate while he was coming over.

Claire was surprised that Leon was holding onto her as they walked. Maybe he wanted to support her since she was limping a little bit from the fall? As they neared the door, Claire pulled her keys out of her pocket.

After unlocking the door, Leon lead her inside and she flicked the light switch on that was next to the entrance.

"Thanks again, Leon. You must want to look at the report I've been working on, it's-"

"I didn't come here to read a report, Claire," he said softly, "Can't I come and visit you once it a while. Unfortunately this wasn't under normal circumstances as we hoped for.

The redhead felt her cheeks redden slightly. Was Leon really coming over for a visit? To visit her?

"Well yeah, Leon. Of course you can come and visit me. I mean," she looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her again. Then the thought occurred to her, shouldn't he be off 'diving' right now with Angela?

"So how's Angela..?" she asked as she sat down on her couch. The sudden saying of that woman's name made the pit of her stomach hurt a bit.

Leon sat down next to her and shrugged slightly, "Don't know. I haven't spoken to her at all since the incident."

His words made Claire's face brighten up a little. So Leon hasn't seen her since the incident, so that makes her the last one he's seen.

"How about... Ada?" her eyes glanced down at her legs and kept them there.

"Haven't seen her since Spain. Which is always a good thing." Leon kept his eyes on the redhead. He noticed how she wouldn't look at him after she mentioned other women's names.

"Why are you here, Leon? Why are you on my couch trying to have a normal conversation with me?"

"Because I want to."

"Why?"

"Claire," said Leon with his monotonous voice, "would you like to go out for dinner with me sometime soon?"

He watched her eyes widen a bit and then she got a curious look on her face, "Why?"

"Because I want to. What's with all these questions? Can't I take an old friend out to dinner without getting my head chewed off?"

He did have a point; Claire was asking him a lot of questions. Where was the trust that she put in him over the years?

"Ok, Leon, I'll go with you out to dinner."

"Sounded like you forced yourself to say that." he gave a slight smirk that pulled up the side of his mouth.

"Leon, I will go out with you!"

"Oh, so you want to be my girlfriend now. Do you? Well I guess that's ok since you asked me out."

Claire's mouth opened slightly and she looked at him. Did Leon just say what she thinks he said? And more importantly, was he asking her out to be his girlfriend? He was an agent, he was a very persuasive person, he could have made it sound like she was asking him out. Again.

"Leon," she asked, "you wanna go out with me? Like go out with me?" Claire didn't notice the way that her voice turned into a teenager's again. She had flashes of when she asked him out a few years back and was turned down. But now-

"If you don't mind. Yes, I would like to go out with you." after that, Leon stood up from the couch and dusted his backside off. He headed over to the door and reached for the handle.

"Wait," said Claire quickly as she rose to her feet, "what day? What time?"

Leon looked back at her and saw that his cheeks were a bit pink. He cleared his throat and said, "How about right now?"

The redhead smiled and limped back over to the front door. She wrapped his arm around her waist and opened the door.

"Help me walk?"

"Sure," he replied with a nod and a smile. He didn't mind being so close to her.

Claire looked at Leon's face and smiled back at him. It may have been the first time she had ever seen him with a smile on his face. And it was directed right to her.

They walked to the elevator again and Leon pushed open the button. There was silence between them as the elevator car moved up the floors for them. As the doors opened, Leon lead the door inside. He pressed the switch for the first floor and waited for the elevator to move. And then waited some more. Claire pressed the open door button and it didn't even light up. She started to slightly panic as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

No signal.

"Leon," she said in a panic. Her eyes looked over at the him and saw that he was staring at the ceiling. Leon got on his hands and knees and looked over at her, "Climb on my back and open the trap door on the ceiling."

With a nod, Claire climbed onto him and started to unlatch the little door. As she tried to push up, it felt like something was blocking the door. The elevator jolted and Claire fell off of Leon and onto the floor. Kennedy stood up quickly and unholstered his gun. A few shots in the ceiling boomed as he pulled the trigger. He positioned himself and jumped, knocking the trap door right off of it's hinges. He leaped again and pulled himself through the small door. As he did, Claire stood up from the ground and moved underneath the door.

Leon lent out his hand and she grabbed it tightly. He started to pull her up through the hole in the ceiling. As they stood on top of the elevator, Leon saw that the doors to the second floor were propped open with a pipe. He walked over and hoisted himself up over the ledge, and then pulled Claire up along with him. He had to pull her up quickly because he heard a loud snap. His eyes widened as the elevator car's cables snapped and started to fall down the rest of the way down the shaft. He practically pulled Claire's arm out of the socket as he tugged. Leon's footing fell out from under him and Claire landed right on top of him.

The two were dazed for a second and looked at each other to see that their lips were touching each others. With a slight smile, Leon pushed his head up more and kissed her harder.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said a voice behind them. It was the hobo from before, and he was holding a gun that was pointed at them.

"Yeah, what do he have here?" said a deep voice from behind the man. The spy looked back and only saw a fist coming for his face.

Chris Redfield dusted his hands off and looked down at the 'homeless' man.

"Hobos these days, I swear," he looked down at his sister and Leon and smiled, "so Claire, are you already dominating him? I should have known you were the man of this relationship." With a laugh he picked up the spy and started to drag him down the stairs with him. He made sure to knock his head into the hand rails with each step.

Leon and Claire looked at each other and grinned. Would they ever have normal circumstances between them?

"So how about dinner?" suggested Leon as he helped them get up.

"Sure, I'm starving." Claire fixed her pony tail quickly and headed to the stairs.

"Anywhere you wanna go."

"Hm, I dunno. You choose." she laughed softly and got to the landing of the last step.

"Maybe we should eat at your place. It would be safer." Leon looked around the lobby of the building and saw Chris tying the hobo onto a chair. With a spin of their heels, the two headed back upstairs.

"Some first date that was," said Claire with a chuckle. As they got into the apartment, Claire pulled out a couple take out menus and sat on the couch with Leon. They looked at each other and smiled. Leon bent in and kissed Claire softly on the lips.

It was the strangest first date that either of them have ever had. And it surely wont be the last.

A/N: This is a gift fic for KT324! :) She's too nice to me, and I needed to pay her back for all her awesomeness. This story gave me a lot of grief as I was trying to post it. I might have to fix it a bit later when I get home. :( But I think it looked ok so far :D

Thanks for reading!


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